Island Bay cycleway public meeting 21 August


Do you like to bike?
Have your say on the future of Island Bay Parade.

Do you ride a bike in Island Bay? Or would you like to ride but are worried about traffic? We want to hear from you.
We have a great opportunity to improve cycling around Island Bay and the route to the city. WCC is planning to improve transport links to the city. No decisions have been made yet. We want to start a discussion now and need your input.

Come along to a public meeting at 7pm on Wednesday 21 August, at the Baptist Church, 284 The Parade.
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A New York city bike lane has reduced speeding rates from 74 percent to 20 percent. Meanwhile, since the lane's installation, crashes and injuries of all kinds have dropped by 63 percent. Travel times for motorists did not increase and neither did congestion (source). Meanwhile, a NYC DOT survey showed more than 70 percent of neighborhood residents supported the improvement.
- See more at: http://momentummag.com/features/the-rise-of-the-north-american-protected...

New research out of Canada has methodically done just this, parsing 14 route types - from that bike-ambivalent major street to sidewalks, local roads with designated bike lanes, paved multi-use paths and protected "cycle tracks" - for their likelihood of yielding serious bike injuries. As it turns out, infrastructure really matters. Your chance of injury drops by about 50 percent, relative to that major city street, when riding on a similar road with a bike lane and no parked cars. The same improvement occurs on bike paths and local streets with designated bike routes. And protected bike lanes - with actual barriers separating cyclists from traffic - really make a difference. The risk of injury drops for riders there by 90 percent.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/10/dedicated-bike-lanes-ca...

The photoshopped picture above may look nice but who wants to have to give way to motor vehicles at every intersection?

 

I dont' think there's any reason why the give way signs at intersections shouldn't apply when a bike is approaching on the bikepath. But this would be an issue to address, along with how vehicles would exit from driveways without endangering cyclists. We don't want a situation like the Hutt Rd cyclepath, where car drivers are supposed to wait clear of cycle path, without a clear view of approaching cars the road (or in some cases without a clear view of the bikepath!), then exit in one manouevre. One solution would be to allow enough space in the carpark area for vehicles to exit in two stages, first cross the bikepath, watching out for bikes, then stop in the carpark area, watching out for cars.

We expected 25, but 66 people turned up to have their say on how Island Bay cycling could be improved. Many called for protected, separated cycle lanes, but were concerned about driveways and intersections. Others want off-road tracks around Wakefield Park or through the golf course to Berhampore. The main concerns were about the route through Berhampore and Newtown, esp the John St intersection. Let's take this opportunity to raise our game. Great to hear many points of view.

Re "Golf club sees holes in cycle path plan"

A few facts: 1. no decisions have been made, with WCC consultation starting next month. 2. We've made three offers to meet with Ray and discuss, he declined. 3. CAW held a well-attended public meeting in August 2013 to let people know about cycle route proposals. 4. People on bikes already use the golf course route, with no problems. 5. Many golf courses in NZ share with walkers and bikers e.g. Shandon / Hutt River Trail. 6. The land is publicly owned. 7. Plans for a walking/cycling route are indicated in the Town Belt Management Plan 2013. 8. A path could reduce any risk by directing people away from golfers. Full marks to Ray for defending his turf, but let's avoid scaremongering, and work this out together.